Played a fun singles match as Shinsuke vs Killian Dain with all of Sanity. I hit a Kinshasa, and the ref was pulled out of the ring during the count. Then Nikki Cross gets up on the apron and pulls the rope down as I run at her, and gets ejected from the match. Dain took it to me and came dangerously close to a pin. I got another Kinshasa, go for the pin, and Alexander Wolfe breaks up the pin and starts beating me up. The match is called on a Disqualification. It all felt really authentic and was frustratingly fun. Easy to try and circumnavigate one annoying manager, but when there's 3 of them chomping at the bit, you really feel it. Very enjoyable.

Always wanted that Kanto Terror name! I want to PM PWR and tell them to have a stable of 10 guys and have Kanto Terror as the leader so they can be called Kanto 10.

Had a couple of matches and I think it flows well enough. Still catching up to the new control mechanics. Is there any way to view the tutorials again? Also had a laggy match with Jon (as Luke Harper) and I'm using Kevin Owens. Damn is it hard to reverse while online.

Finally, I had Asuka vs Emma (CPU), and when Emma pinned Asuka, she pulled her up after a one-count and slammed Asuka to the mat. I marked out.

For 16 I mostly did tournaments, and last year I made an attempt at a "stables" universe where I only ran one show, it was only two 5-person stables in the show. Once a stable lost all their titles and no rivalries remained, they were replaced....It worked better than expected, but this year I'm getting back into universe...running 6 shows a week with 3 PPVs a month, 2 shows each. Grouped like this.

Seems like MyCareer starts the same way and would just branch out when you get to the main roster.

I still haven't played after this match. But I really love the gameplay this year. Roode reversed my first signature move attempt and then reversed it again after I successfully completed a Comeback sequence. He set up for his finisher which I reversed with a knee to his face, busting him open, then I hit my finisher for the win.

EDIT: I know there's a custom video maker built-in for the game, but I made a custom entrance video outside of the game using After Effects, and I replaced Summer Rae's entrance video. In the game's directory, there are three titantrons used for different screen resolutions: one for the Raw/Smackdown super wide titantron, the normal 16:9 titantron, and the 4:3 titantron used for older arenas.

Currently, my character switched to Smackdown and is currently in a rivalry with Jack Gallagher.

I happened to come across a list of nifty features/Easter eggs, one of which was the ability for certain wrestlers to pull down their straps. Naturally I had to try it out, so I played a match between The Undertaker and Rusev, set at the Royal Rumble.

While I did have fun, I was reminded again of how cheap the AI and damage system is now. I was in control for most of the match and doled out a lot of punishment to Rusev, but it took about eight chokeslams and Tombstones, as well as a Last Ride, to put him down. Considering that the AI can get you into a situation where it's basically impossible for you to even try to kick out after just one signature and finisher, it's definitely unbalanced. I understand wanting to make it more challenging and realistic, but when it takes that many finishers to get the job done, on top of a variety of other moves that have dealt out a lot of punishment in between, it's fake difficulty.

That's my biggest gripe with the WWE games. For all the cool stuff they've added, the gameplay hasn't improved, and in some ways has gotten worse.

Played a match between Nia Jax and Alexa Bliss where I was beaten due to the aforementioned cheapness. The mechanics that are obviously intended to balance the game are just making it easy for the CPU to pick up cheap wins with contrived sequences.